Washington, Nov 5: The United States thwarted a suspect shipment from North Korea to Iran by persuading the Indian Government to deny clearance for the North Korean flight to travel through Indian airspace, US officials have said.

Nine weeks after the flight was diverted in August, the Bush Administration removed North Korea from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism in a bid to salvage an accord to end Pyongyang’s nuclear programs, the Washington Post reported.

US officials suspect that the North Korean plane, an Ilyushin-62 jet owned by the North Korean state airline, was carrying sophisticated technology -- such as ballistic missile parts -- that could be used in a program for weapons of mass destruction.

Seoul - North Korea's state-controlled media on Wednesday released new, undated pictures of leader Kim Jong Il for the second time in four days.

Weeks of public absences have fuelled speculation over the health of the 66-year-old leader.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim visited two army units and observed training. Pictures released with the report showed an apparently healthy Kim, clad in a thick parka, with a group of soldiers, but it remained unclear when the photos were taken.

London, Nov. 3 (ANI): North Korea has released photographs of its leader Kim Jong-il in an attempt to quell growing reports of his ill health.

The photographs shows the "Dear Leader" at a football match between two military units, according to the Korea Central News Agency, the state propaganda arm.

Foliage visible in the pictures appeared to be autumnal – in contrast to a previous photograph circulated three weeks ago, where despite the time of year trees in the background were in full leaf.

Seoul  - North Korea's military on Tuesday threatened the destruction of its southern neighbour, accusing South Korea of planning a military strike against the Pyongyang regime, a news report said.

At the slightest sign of an attempt by Seoul to preemptively strike the communist state, North Korea would attack with "means more powerful than a nuclear strike," the South Korean Yonhap news agency said, quoting a report in its northern counterpart, the Korean Central News Agency.

"The puppet authorities had better bear in mind that the advanced preemptive strike of our own style will reduce everything ... to debris, not just setting them on fire," a spokesman of North Korea's army was quoted as saying.

Seoul  - North Korea's military threatened Monday to quit an industrial cooperation project if South Korean activists do not stop dropping propaganda leaflets in its territory.

The North urged the South in a meeting between military officers from both countries to put a stop to the leaflet distribution, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. The meeting took place on the border between the two countries near the town Paju on South Korea's west coast.

Pyongyang complained at the gathering at the inter-Korean border that the leaflet drops by South Korean organizations was increasing.

Seoul - North Korea's military threatened Monday to quit an industrial cooperation project if South Korean activists do not stop dropping propaganda leaflets in its territory.

The North urged the South in a meeting between military officers from both countries to put a stop to the leaflet distribution, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

Pyongyang complained at the gathering at the inter-Korean border that the leaflet drops by South Korean organizations was increasing.